Just Chillin’.

I’d like to tell you how I met Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).
There is a gorgeous hall in the Cannon House Office Building.  It has high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, enormous windows, etc.  After the 2008 election, the House Democratic Caucus invited new members, returning members and retiring members to that hall, to choose our caucus and committee leaders.
There were dividers set across the middle of the hall.  In the front were the dais, the lectern, the chairs and the speeches, delivered by all the candidates for leadership positions.
In the back was the food.
In the front, you had to listen.  In the back, you could have a conversation.  You could do business.  You could make a deal.
Being a newbie, I was very interested to see who was in front, and who was in back.  I went to the back of the hall – not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to see what was up back there.
In the back of the back of the hall, I saw a man with a bushy Van Dyke beard, leaning up against the wall.  He was wearing blue jeans, a denim shirt, and a shoestring tie with a silver ornament.  He had his beverage of choice in hand.
He was just chillin’.
I walked up to him and introduced myself, rather woodenly:  “Hi, I’m Alan Grayson, the Congressman from Orlando.”

He looked at me, smiled warmly, and said simply:  “I’m Raul.”

That was my first experience with the preternatural calm, poise, modesty and dignity of Rep. Raul Grijalva.
There are certain thoughts that come to mind for Members of Congress over and over again.  One of them goes like this: “If only your voters could see for themselves what kind of person you are, then you would get 99.9% of the vote.”
That’s what other Members of Congress think about Raul Grijalva.  The phrase “nice guy” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Because of the extraordinary respect that other Members of Congress have for him, Raul was elected Chairman of the Progressive Caucus at the end of only his fourth term in office.  As the Chairman of the Progressive Caucus, Raul is our spokesman on reducing unemployment, universal healthcare, cutting military expenditures, campaign finance reform, progressive taxation, improving education, and peace.
Right now, a conservative Democrat is challenging Raul Grijalva in his primary next Tuesday. She was appointed to her current position by crackpot Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is famous for sticking her finger in the face of the President of the United States and shouting at him.
Raul’s opponent says that the reason why she wants to go to Washington is that “she is frustrated with Washington.”  Personally, I’m frustrated with traffic jams, but that doesn’t make me want to be in one.  I think that you need a better reason than that to be elected to Congress.
Raul’s opponent, a rich businesswoman, is running crass attack ads on TV against him.  She’s up on the air, and he’s not.  Raul needs to fight back; we need to help.  Please contribute to Raul Grijalva’s campaign.  We can’t afford to lose him.
Courage,
Alan Grayson